PGA Tour success vindicates rejecting LIV – Rose

Three PGA Tour victories and two near misses in the majors have left Justin Rose feeling vindicated by his decision to reject offers from the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf series.

The Englishman claimed his 13th PGA Tour title on Sunday after a dominant week at Torrey Pines in California, winning with a tournament record score.

In 2022, some of the sport’s biggest names chose to defect to the breakaway LIV Golf with lucrative contracts being offered by the controversial new competition.

Rose, however, chose not to move and since then the 45-year-old has climbed to third in the world rankings. He has won three times on the American circuit, finished runner-up at the 2024 Open Championship and was beaten in a play-off at last year’s Masters by Rory McIlroy.

“I’ve been sniffing and knocking on the door for a couple of majors since those decisions have been made, and those moments did validate that decision.

“It’s good to see people wanting to play where it motivates them to be their best.”

Rose finished 23 under at last week’s Farmers Insurance Open, beating the tournament’s previous best winning score of 22 under by Tiger Woods in 1999 and George Burns in 1987.

Rose also became the oldest player to secure a wire-to-wire finish on tour – leading in all four rounds – since Rocco Mediate in October 2010 aged 47.

“I want to play in and among the best players in the world; that’s what keeps me motivated, keeps me hungry, keeps me pushing,” Rose continued.

“It would have been easy to potentially do other things but none of that excited me and none of that gave me access to what I wanted to achieve.

“I always felt my childhood self wouldn’t feel very good about making that decision and giving up on those dreams.”

Last month, Patrick Reed announced he was leaving LIV Golf to make a return to the PGA Tour, following American compatriot Brooks Koepka in departing the series.

Five-time major champion Koepka, 35, made his comeback at Torrey Pines under a new returning member programme.

The also opened the door to the return of other major winners Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith but all three pledged their commitment to LIV before the 2 February cut-off date to apply to get on the programme.